Arcade Economics?

Madmoonie · Post by **Madmoonie** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:11 pm

You know, I have never had the problem that youn guys are referring to. I spend all my tokens...cause I lose the game so quickly.

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:27 am

I remember back in the day spending time playing those wonderfull multiplayer arcade games, Gauntlet and Rampage come to mind. That was fun.

Tbolt · Post by **Tbolt** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:04 am

Ahhh, yes my favorite games were Rampart and Trog when my freinds and I went to the arcade at PSU.

I still like the old overhead / side shooters: P47 the Phantom Fighter (where I get my screen name P47D Thunderbolt), 1942, 1943 (Hmmm... is there a trend developing here

)

Alas, my interest in the arcade died with the advent of the one-on-one fighter games like Street Fighter (was that combo ABBCAC or ABBCBA?) and games that cost more than a quarter to play. Trying to learn a new game just cost too much in my starving college student days.

I like the "takes" in the past couple of strips, nothing like a bit of tail frizz to emphasize the point

The facial expressions are priceless too...

Solarfox · Post by **Solarfox** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:48 am

Earl McClaw wrote:Yes, but those game changeboxes still need to be emptied and the tokens put back in circulation, a thankless task that won't go away. Mind you, you probably don't have to empty every machine every night.

You don't. In fact, very few operators do empty the machines every night; even route operators running "8-liners" and Golden Tee golf games, which might potentially collect as much as $100 a day if you get a really good location, don't empty those machines every day; they usually do them only once or twice a week.

By centralizing the cash in a small number of locations (the change machines and the floor walker), the token system makes it easy for an arcade operator to bank their money every night without having to empty out all the machines. It also means they don't have to carry huge sacks of quarters to the bank.

RHJunior wrote:3)Advertising--- many arcade places get specially stamped tokens with the arcade name on them. So even if the kid walks out without spending 'em, he's helping scatter name recognition.

Earl McClaw wrote:Assuming Ben got ahold of some. I heard somewhere that those tokens can be expensive. (Casino tokens in particular, as those can be exchanged for cash and they have to worry about counterfitting.)

Casino tokens are expensive because they're custom-minted for each casino, and individually stamped with a serial number, and their cost also reflects the high overhead of maintaining Defcon-One security over every stage of the process from the moment the raw feedstock comes in the door to the moment the finished tokens are delivered by armored car to the casino.

Brass arcade tokens don't have nearly that kind of overhead cost involved. Happ Controls' current pricing on standard brass game tokens is $0.15 in quantities of 1000 or more. (That's for the .984" size, which is the most popular; other sizes are a couple of cents more.) A quick Google search turns up another company where the .984 can be had for $0.076 in quantities of 5000.

Granted, these are standard "generic" tokens, not customized ones. Custom imprints will drive the cost up somewhat -- although much of that will be the additional setup costs, which can be minimized if you're willing to shop around some and willing to use a "stock" imprint on one side (such as the familiar "No Cash Value") instead of insisting on custom imprints on both sides.

Earl McClaw wrote:C) Lighter tokens can mean less wear on the machines over time, reducing repair and maintenance costs.

Eh... not really. Wear and tear on the coin acceptor is small change (so to speak

) compared to the wear and tear on the game controls, the cabinets, and the electronics themselves. New coin acceptors cost about $20, depending on the model; by contrast, optical guns cost about $70 to replace -- and that's just for the standard .45 cal. pistol-style gun used on a game like Area 51; the "pump-action shotgun"-style optical gun on a Big Buck Hunter game costs almost $300(!) -- and those have to get replaced far more often.

Madmoonie · Post by **Madmoonie** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:44 am

Okay it just freaky how you know all this.

CasVeg · Post by **CasVeg** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:33 am

Madmoonie wrote:Okay it just freaky how you know all this.

This forum is just packed with super-geeks. Some of them have heavy artillery. . . (Never mess with a super-geeky furry who's also a well-muscled gun freak that can build better weapons than most people can buy.) But, yeah, half of the people in this forum are solid nerd material.

SolidusRaccoon · Post by **SolidusRaccoon** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:28 am

CasVeg wrote:
Madmoonie wrote:Okay it just freaky how you know all this.
This forum is just packed with super-geeks. Some of them have heavy artillery. . . (Never mess with a super-geeky furry who's also a well-muscled gun freak that can build better weapons than most people can buy.) But, yeah, half of the people in this forum are solid nerd material.

Yup, that sums it up.

Solarfox · Post by **Solarfox** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:05 am

Madmoonie wrote:Okay it just freaky how you know all this.

I believe I may have mentioned once or twice before that I used to work in the amusement-and-gaming industry?

I still have a few friends in that business, so I like to keep up with what's going on.

NydaLynn · Post by **NydaLynn** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:43 pm

Wow... I have learned so much today.. just from reading a forum thread! *sniff sniff*

You guys are great!